Jane Austen 's Pride And Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen in the Regency Period of England. The book represents to the reader how females, marriage and social class were viewed at the time, as well as demonstrates Austen’s opinion on these matters in a somewhat satirical sense. The two marriage proposals in the book towards the lead female character, Elizabeth Bennet, are put forth by Mr Collins and Mr Darcy, both of whom exaggerate the social norms of the time; as women were not expected to marry for love, but for financial gain, the terms for both proposals are focused more on the gains of both the man and the woman rather than true feelings towards the affair. The ridiculed etiquette shows how Austen held the ‘rules’ of the time in low regard.

Most importantly, due to his religious duty. As she told her friend, Elizabeth, about accepting a proposal from Mr. Collins, Elizabeth full of of shock replied, “Engaged to Mr. Collins! My dear Charlotte, -- impossible” (Austen, 122). Elizabeth’s shock is because she believed he would not be the right person for her. However, Tony Tanner agrees that Charlotte views her marriage strictly as a “preservative from want” (Bloom, 66). This symbolizes Charlotte marries Collins because she did not want to be a load for her family especially her mother who went through difficulties to find her a mate Marrying Collins helps Charlotte than it did for him because she received advantages such as financial, security, and unburden to her family as well as getting a higher rank. She coldly admits to Elizabeth, “…I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins 's character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state" (Austen, 123). Charlotte’s train of thought is Mr. Collins is her last option of marriage to have her own life instead of living with her parents. Their marriage is based on societal norms and she agrees to marry him, even with the knowledge that they have different personalities. She marries Collin in disregards of her self-respect and his undurable personality.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel about the superficiality of marriage during the late 19th and early 20th century, which largely influenced the decisions made by individuals, based on connections and social rankings. The novel takes its characters through various changes influenced by their decision to or rather not to marry certain individuals. It begins not by a man desiring to marry for love, but by a mother who desires nothing more than to marry her daughters well. As the novel develops, Jane Austen presents the reader with various courtships and marriages which not only mock the idea of marrying for economic security, but instead propose that the only way to marry is through love. In Pride and Prejudice, the author Jane Austen utilizes

The roles of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about what’s inside of people and a mother who only worries about vanity and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters; Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social status. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen introduces the major thematic concept of marriage and financial wealth. Throughout the novel, Austen depicts various relationships that exhibit the two recurring themes. Set during the regency period, the perception of marriage revolves around a universal truth. Austen claims that a single man “must be in want of a wife.” Hence, the social stature and wealth of men were of principal importance for women. Austen, however, hints that the opposite may prove more exact: a single woman, under the social limitations, is in want of a husband. Through this speculation, Austen acknowledges that the economic pressure of social acceptance serves as a foundation for a proper marriage.

The first thing people would notice about Pride and Prejudice is the obsession with marriage. After all, the very first line in the book is “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1). Marriage was very important to the English in this period of time for a few reasons, wealth and land being the main ones. Those two will be explained in more detail a little later. Outside of wealth, the main reason that females themselves would want to get married was because they were reliant on money that came from men,

Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a canonical text set in Regency England which focuses on the Bennet family and their “business” to marry off their 5 daughters. Austen uses Elizabeth Bennet as the central character of this text to provide her insights on social divisions in her time. In Regency England, a woman’s marital status had a huge impact on their value in society and women who were not married were differentiated from society and were treated poorly. If a woman in Regency England was to be offered an advantageous proposal from a wealthy man it would be accepted blindly, however for Elizabeth Bennet it is not the case. Mr Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth is rejected due to him being ‘unjust and ungenerous’.

Hence, Austen satirizes the commonly lead notions because Jane tells her sister to make sure her relationship with Mr. Darcy has “affection” in it. Furthermore, in the following Mr. Collins’s character represents society’s picture of a regular man who sees marriage as a “business”: “but if she is really headstrong and foolish, I know not whether she would altogether be a very desirable wife to a man in my situation, who naturally looks for

In Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice”, her character Elizabeth Bennet refuses marriage proposals because she secretly believes that materialism and ignorance are the cause of lost love and unhappiness. In “Pride and Prejudice”, Elizabeth uses the example of marriages, like her parents or the Collins’, to prove that marrying simply to have a man for “security” isn’t the right reason. In chapter 42 of the novel Austen writes “Respect, esteem, and confidence had vanished for ever; and all his views of domestic happiness were overthrown.” in order to express that her character notices her parents’ regret in marrying each other because her mother married for money and her father married for beauty.

In Pride and Prejudice Author Jane Austen claims that marriage should be between a man and women who love each other equally. Austen's disgust of Marriage and decorum in British culture is written through the eyes of main the main character in Pride and Prejudice, Miss Elizabeth Bennett. It is sad to think that marriage could be bought or in Elizabeth Bennett’s case not afforded. Marriage shouldn’t be the only measure of worth for women. Someone should not feel “repugnance” for a marriage due to situation.

In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Mrs. Bennet’s goal in life is to have her daughters married and she constantly tries to attract her daughters to eligible bachelors. Mr. Collins is an unpleasant arrogant clergyman who comes to the Bennet household to find a wife and he pursues his second choice, Elizabeth, the second eldest daughter. Elizabeth instantly refuses Mr. Collins’s proposal and Charlotte, Elizabeth’s best friend, does not waste any time to seek out Mr. Collins. A few days later, news arrives to Elizabeth that Mr. Collins and Charlotte are engaged. Elizabeth and Charlotte converse about her questionably quick decision. Charlotte simply tells Elizabeth that marriage to Mr. Collins is the best match that she could hope for.

‘Pride and Prejudice’ is a novel fixated on marriage: throughout, all the ‘action’ occurs within scenes devoted to either the talk of marriage or actual proposals. This cannot be expounded more than within the very first line: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife’. Here, at the beginning of the novel, a definite, though somewhat sarcastic, statement introduces the main theme of the novel – marriage- and, possibly more importantly, not love.

In the text, Mrs. Bennet illustrates to the audience her prides, by enacting on her one clear goal in life; that is to marry off her daughters to a high-end, respectable man. Mrs. Bennet is known for the type of person who would do anything to become a step ahead of everyone else in life. In the text, she tries to teach all her children responsibility, by instructing them on techniques to retain their men. The text “Pride and Prejudice” portrays similar characteristics to that of “The good house wives guide,”. Though the two were written in different eras, the main characters inhabits many of the qualities a typical house wife will have. According to the guide, “You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first — remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.” During this time, it was very clear that a man’s happiness was over and above a woman’s happiness. Consequently, as seen in the “Marriage and Love”, by Emma Goldman, it is said that well-behaved women rarely make history”, due to their inability to dedicate themselves to their men. On the contrary, women today can make history without their dedication to their men. Reason being is that women are no obtaining education and sustaining jobs just as men are.

During England’s Romantic period, arranged marriages between young men and women were customary and of much importance, allowing the custom to be influential and reflected in the culture and literature of the time period. The 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, a story of how an unlikely match overcomes the obstacles of social prejudices and the couple’s own vanity to find happiness, exemplifies the problems this custom caused and how it impacted society. The relationships and interactions between people of differing social classes in this novel allow readers to understand the impact of this issue during that time. People in 19th century England found the practice of arranged marriages as a ritual and the norm, ultimately resulting in sacrifices of happiness and causing social prejudices to be inevitable.

Jane Austen’s well-known novel, Pride and Prejudice, discussed multiple social themes in the 19th century. Austen mainly criticized marriage during her era, when she says that, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 3). As she explains that it was valuable to women since it provided them with security and a social title. The author explored the diverse motives behind matrimony in her time period by using a humorous and romantic plot to discuss the social issues. For instance, Charlotte Lucas’s unreasonable marriage to Mr. Collins is a vital example of how women needed to secure a future and attain social status. To conclude, Lydia Bennet’s meaningless marriage to George Wickham shows that entering the marriage estate could have also been for mainly financial purposes. Contrastingly, Jane Bennet, the heroine’s older sister, marries Charles Bingley for love, security, and a social ranking. On the other hand, Elizabeth Bennet marries Fitzwilliam Darcy after months of misunderstandings and romantic drama for none other than true love. Thus, Austen uses her leading characters’ marriages in Pride and Prejudice to exhibit the various attitudes and reasons for marrying in the 19th century. (Lane 2015)